MTV and CBS add social dimension to biggest events of the year

CNN and Facebook kicked off a new and engaging way to experience live events online during the Obama Inauguration. Our hats now go off to MTV and CBS for adding live chat to the most highly viewed events of the year, and including Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and MySpace users. Both networks added chat to the Hope for Haiti concert webcast on MTV.com, VH1.com and CBSNews.com.

Mashable reported “The live chat makes the donating experience public; folks in the chat will probably encourage one another to donate, and people will be more likely to donate if they know they can impress their friends.” We certainly hope that was the case and congratulate everyone involved on the $60MM raised from the event. A few weeks earlier, MTV used Gigya’s live chat during first-ever live Q&A with James Cameron and the Cast of Avatar. CBS added the live chat to yesterday’s State of the Union Address, letting everyone experience freedom of speech in action.